MLB Daily Notes: Wednesday, June 1
There is no vacation with two kids under five years old. This is just constant, incessant work. I am like writing these sentences one at a time and stopping between to go get my son off of whatever he’s climbing on.
I get a pretty bad attitude about it quite often, and it’s a constant battle to stop that. The “I’m lucky to have kids” thing is certainly true and that’s a big reason in itself to stop having a bad attitude about it, like I chose to do this and I’m super happy I have them and even from the purely selfish standpoint - it will pay off in the long run. But that’s not really what gets me back to where I should be. I think humans have duties in life. I don’t believe any of this was created randomly, I think generally things in life have a purpose. A big part of my duty in life is to have these kids and raise them to be really great adults. So when I’m in my head complaining about the other things I could be doing instead of chasing the kids around, I kind of resort to that - stop being selfish, your life isn’t about you anymore.
We have a new HOT HITTER TRACKER in the notes. What this script does is the following.
Looks at every hitter with 15+ PA in the last 7 days
Compares their contact rate, average exit velocity, and chase rate with their career average (by career average I mean 2019-2022)
Filters the list down to only hitters improving by 2 or more points in all three categories
The list is free for now, but I think it’s probably headed for the premium section of the post soon. Buy a subscription now for $5/month or $40/year! Don’t hesitate just because a third of the season is over, you’ll get tons of offseason content with it as well.
Lots to choose from for hitters to highlight, so let’s just be brief on three guys that had nice days yesterday
Patrick Wisdom
Eleven homers and two steals now, but the same horrifying strikeout rate and batting average. The .235 mark he’s hitting really isn’t as bad as it typically would be given the league context, and I guess you could take solace that the strikeout rate is at least on a down-slope?
Either way, he’s rosterable for the power and even a few steals, apparently!
Christian Walker
Another homer, two barrels, and three hits last night. Walker has been incredible this year with 15 PA/HR, a 75% contact rate, a 19.5% K%, and a 16.3% barrel rate. Despite those amazing marks his batting average was below .200 coming into last night, but his three hits got him to .208.
The BABIP has been low, but it just might be the case that you can put up a bad batting average with a low K% if you’re constantly hitting fly balls that go for outs if they don’t fly over a fence. Regardless, Walker is a must-start guy and has been for weeks now.
Joey Votto
.313/.436/.719 in 39 PAs since returning with two homers and a 17.4% Barrel Rate. I would call it wise to jump on Votto if someone gave up on him after that brutal April.
Pitcher of the day was Luis Castillo who went for a 22% SwStr% and a 48% K% (10 K) yesterday. He did walk three hitters, but was dominant otherwise
The four-seamer, changeup, and slider all going over 20% SwStr% is insane. He’s back!
Here are the notes, enjoy!
CSW% Leaders - Yesterday
1. Julio Urias (LAD): 19.8 SwStr%, 39.6 CSW%
2. Joey Wentz (DET): 14.5 SwStr%, 36.4 CSW%
3. Adam Wainwright (STL): 7.8 SwStr%, 35.7 CSW%
4. Luis Castillo (CIN): 22.0 SwStr%, 34.0 CSW%
5. Martin Perez (TEX): 8.2 SwStr%, 32.9 CSW%
6. Lucas Giolito (CWS): 18.2 SwStr%, 31.3 CSW%
7. Blake Snell (SD): 15.3 SwStr%, 29.6 CSW%
8. Frankie Montas (OAK): 11.2 SwStr%, 28.6 CSW%
9. Patrick Corbin (WSH): 12.3 SwStr%, 28.3 CSW%
10. George Kirby (SEA): 12.8 SwStr%, 27.7 CSW%
Top Pitcher JA Scores - Yesterday
1. Luis Castillo - 6.0 IP - 76.5 JA Points
2. Adam Wainwright - 7.0 IP - 76.0 JA Points
3. Julio Urias - 6.0 IP - 58.0 JA Points
4. Martin Perez - 7.0 IP - 51.5 JA Points
5. Blake Snell - 6.0 IP - 51.0 JA Points
6. Joey Wentz - 4.0 IP - 49.0 JA Points
7. Frankie Montas - 6.67 IP - 47.0 JA Points
8. Lucas Giolito - 4.67 IP - 45.75 JA Points
9. Patrick Corbin - 4.33 IP - 44.0 JA Points
10. George Kirby - 6.0 IP - 42.75 JA Points
Pitcher JA Scores - Season
1. Shane McClanahan (TB) - 10 GS - 56.55 JA Points
2. Corbin Burnes (MIL) - 10 GS - 54.68 JA Points
3. Shohei Ohtani (LAA) - 8 GS - 51.27 JA Points
4. Dylan Cease (CWS) - 10 GS - 50.23 JA Points
5. Freddy Peralta (MIL) - 8 GS - 49.99 JA Points
6. Kevin Gausman (TOR) - 10 GS - 48.46 JA Points
7. Lucas Giolito (CWS) - 8 GS - 48.33 JA Points
8. Gerrit Cole (NYY) - 10 GS - 48.25 JA Points
9. Alex Cobb (SF) - 8 GS - 46.79 JA Points
10. Max Scherzer (NYM) - 8 GS - 46.36 JA Points
Velo Changes - Yesterday
Patrick Corbin's SL velo (41 pitches) UP 2.7mph to 83.5
Cal Quantrill's FC velo (38 pitches) UP 1.9mph to 89.0
Luis Castillo's SL velo (15 pitches) UP 1.9mph to 87.7
Luis Castillo's CH velo (30 pitches) UP 1.8mph to 88.9
Daniel Lynch's CH velo (19 pitches) UP 1.5mph to 85.6
Rony Garcia's CU velo (30 pitches) DOWN -1.5mph to 79.5
Trevor Williams's CU velo (11 pitches) DOWN -1.7mph to 77.2
Joey Wentz's FC velo (10 pitches) DOWN -2.0mph to 86.6
Kenny Rosenberg's FF velo (49 pitches) DOWN -2.1mph to 90.5
Devin Smeltzer's CU velo (15 pitches) DOWN -2.5mph to 73.7
Trevor Williams's SL velo (13 pitches) DOWN -3.1mph to 79.9
Pitch Mix Changes - Yesterday
Adam Wainwright's FF usage (21.7%) up 13.0 points
Blake Snell's CU usage (23.5%) up 15.5 points
Cal Quantrill's SI usage (50.5%) up 10.8 points
Cole Sands's FF usage (77.8%) up 12.9 points
Devin Smeltzer's CH usage (41.6%) up 18.8 points
Eric Lauer's FF usage (48.3%) up 10.8 points
Frankie Montas's SI usage (35.7%) up 14.0 points
Joey Wentz's FC usage (18.2%) up 11.4 points
Jordan Montgomery's FC usage (19.5%) up 17.9 points
Julio Urias's CU usage (47.3%) up 10.3 points
Kenny Rosenberg's FF usage (49.5%) up 10.4 points
Kenny Rosenberg's CH usage (42.4%) up 12.0 points
Lucas Giolito's SL usage (38.4%) up 16.4 points
Luis Castillo's FF usage (49.0%) up 31.5 points
Michael Wacha's SI usage (31.9%) up 18.6 points
Mitch Keller's SI usage (34.7%) up 31.7 points
Ranger Suarez's FF usage (27.0%) up 10.2 points
Rony Garcia's CH usage (21.1%) up 11.1 points
CSW% Leaders - Last 3 Weeks
Gerrit Cole - 109 TBF, 35.9% CSW%
Shane McClanahan - 95 TBF, 35.4% CSW%
Shane Bieber - 86 TBF, 34.0% CSW%
Nathan Eovaldi - 98 TBF, 33.8% CSW%
Corbin Burnes - 99 TBF, 33.4% CSW%
Zack Wheeler - 99 TBF, 32.6% CSW%
Pablo Lopez - 93 TBF, 32.5% CSW%
Sandy Alcantara - 117 TBF, 32.2% CSW%
Tyler Anderson - 107 TBF, 32.0% CSW%
Frankie Montas - 82 TBF, 32.0% CSW%
K% Leaders - Last 3 Weeks
Frankie Montas - 82 TBF, 36.6% K%
Shane McClanahan - 95 TBF, 35.8% K%
Zack Wheeler - 99 TBF, 33.3% K%
Dylan Cease - 90 TBF, 32.2% K%
Cristian Javier - 84 TBF, 32.1% K%
Gerrit Cole - 109 TBF, 32.1% K%
Sonny Gray - 91 TBF, 29.7% K%
Corbin Burnes - 99 TBF, 28.3% K%
Pablo Lopez - 93 TBF, 28.0% K%
Sean Manaea - 80 TBF, 27.5% K%
K-BB% Leaders - Last 3 Weeks
Frankie Montas - 82 TBF, 34.1% K-BB%
Shane McClanahan - 95 TBF, 32.6% K-BB%
Zack Wheeler - 99 TBF, 30.3% K-BB%
Gerrit Cole - 109 TBF, 28.4% K-BB%
Corbin Burnes - 99 TBF, 25.3% K-BB%
Sonny Gray - 91 TBF, 24.2% K-BB%
Tyler Anderson - 107 TBF, 23.4% K-BB%
Dylan Cease - 90 TBF, 22.2% K-BB%
Sandy Alcantara - 117 TBF, 22.2% K-BB%
Cristian Javier - 84 TBF, 21.4% K-BB%
GB% Leaders - Last 3 Weeks
Framber Valdez - 118 TBF, 59.8% GB%
Alex Cobb - 95 TBF, 59.4% GB%
Martin Perez - 108 TBF, 58.8% GB%
Sandy Alcantara - 117 TBF, 57.9% GB%
Logan Webb - 100 TBF, 56.5% GB%
Joan Adon - 91 TBF, 56.1% GB%
Walker Buehler - 98 TBF, 56.0% GB%
Patrick Corbin - 104 TBF, 55.0% GB%
Adrian Houser - 91 TBF, 54.4% GB%
Luis Castillo - 85 TBF, 54.4% GB%
Magic Formula Qualifiers - Pitchers - Last 3 Weeks
Aaron Ashby - 66 TBF, 39.4 K%, 7.6 BB%, 68.6% GB%
Brady Singer - 73 TBF, 27.4 K%, 4.1 BB%, 52.0% GB%
Gerrit Cole - 109 TBF, 32.1 K%, 3.7 BB%, 45.7% GB%
Luis Castillo - 85 TBF, 27.1 K%, 5.9 BB%, 54.4% GB%
Pablo Lopez - 93 TBF, 28.0 K%, 7.5 BB%, 45.0% GB%
Sandy Alcantara - 117 TBF, 27.4 K%, 5.1 BB%, 57.9% GB%
Sonny Gray - 91 TBF, 29.7 K%, 5.5 BB%, 47.5% GB%
Tarik Skubal - 67 TBF, 31.3 K%, 4.5 BB%, 48.8% GB%
Tony Gonsolin - 65 TBF, 32.3 K%, 4.6 BB%, 51.2% GB%
Zack Wheeler - 99 TBF, 33.3 K%, 3.0 BB%, 48.4% GB%
Multiple Barrels
Christian Walker (ARI) 4 PA, 4 Swings, 2 Barrels, 1 HR
Christopher Morel (CHC) 5 PA, 6 Swings, 2 Barrels, 0 HR
Gary Sanchez (MIN) 4 PA, 8 Swings, 2 Barrels, 1 HR
Joey Votto (CIN) 4 PA, 7 Swings, 2 Barrels, 0 HR
Matt Olson (ATL) 5 PA, 9 Swings, 2 Barrels, 1 HR
Michael Chavis (PIT) 4 PA, 7 Swings, 2 Barrels, 1 HR
Patrick Wisdom (CHC) 5 PA, 18 Swings, 2 Barrels, 1 HR
Teoscar Hernandez (TOR) 4 PA, 6 Swings, 3 Barrels, 0 HR
Trea Turner (LAD) 4 PA, 5 Swings, 2 Barrels, 1 HR
Top Hitter JA Scores - Yesterday
1. Matt Olson - 5.0 PA - 76.0 JA Points
2. Patrick Wisdom - 5.0 PA - 61.0 JA Points
3. Jose Abreu - 5.0 PA - 58.0 JA Points
4. Christian Walker - 4.0 PA - 53.0 JA Points
5. Clint Frazier - 4.0 PA - 50.0 JA Points
6. Max Kepler - 5.0 PA - 50.0 JA Points
7. Andrew Vaughn - 5.0 PA - 49.0 JA Points
8. Joey Votto - 4.0 PA - 47.0 JA Points
9. Jose Trevino - 4.0 PA - 47.0 JA Points
10. Trea Turner - 4.0 PA - 44.0 JA Points
Hitter JA Scores - Season
1. Jose Ramirez (CLE) - 195.0 PA - 146.67 JA Points
2. Taylor Ward (LAA) - 146.0 PA - 144.38 JA Points
3. Yordan Alvarez (HOU) - 181.0 PA - 127.73 JA Points
4. Aaron Judge (NYY) - 202.0 PA - 123.56 JA Points
5. Juan Soto (WSH) - 223.0 PA - 122.69 JA Points
6. Freddie Freeman (LAD) - 217.0 PA - 119.63 JA Points
7. Paul Goldschmidt (STL) - 206.0 PA - 114.37 JA Points
8. Joc Pederson (SF) - 136.0 PA - 113.82 JA Points
9. Alejandro Kirk (TOR) - 143.0 PA - 105.17 JA Points
10. Mike Yastrzemski (SF) - 154.0 PA - 104.94 JA Points
Hardest Hit Balls
Willson Contreras (CHC) - 116.0mph - home_run
Pete Alonso (NYM) - 114.7mph - nan
Matt Olson (ATL) - 113.0mph - double
Matt Olson (ATL) - 111.8mph - double
Rafael Devers (BOS) - 111.5mph - single
Adolis Garcia (TEX) - 111.4mph - home_run
David Peralta (ARI) - 111.3mph - single
Patrick Wisdom (CHC) - 110.8mph - nan
J.D. Davis (NYM) - 110.8mph - single
Jose Abreu (CWS) - 110.5mph - single
Last 3 Weeks - Brl% Leaders
Evan Longoria - 58 PA, 35 BIP, 9 Brls, 25.7 Brl%
Shohei Ohtani - 74 PA, 45 BIP, 11 Brls, 24.4 Brl%
Taylor Ward - 50 PA, 33 BIP, 8 Brls, 24.2 Brl%
Gary Sanchez - 75 PA, 48 BIP, 11 Brls, 22.9 Brl%
Trevor Story - 84 PA, 48 BIP, 11 Brls, 22.9 Brl%
Giancarlo Stanton - 50 PA, 31 BIP, 7 Brls, 22.6 Brl%
Joc Pederson - 59 PA, 40 BIP, 9 Brls, 22.5 Brl%
Aaron Judge - 83 PA, 55 BIP, 12 Brls, 21.8 Brl%
Jorge Soler - 58 PA, 37 BIP, 8 Brls, 21.6 Brl%
Patrick Wisdom - 79 PA, 43 BIP, 9 Brls, 20.9 Brl%
Last 3 Weeks - Contact% Leaders
Luis Guillorme - 51 PA, 90 Swings, 93.3 Cont%
Luis Arraez - 90 PA, 140 Swings, 92.9 Cont%
Jose Ramirez - 63 PA, 118 Swings, 92.4 Cont%
Myles Straw - 67 PA, 102 Swings, 91.2 Cont%
Michael Brantley - 76 PA, 94 Swings, 89.4 Cont%
Tony Kemp - 74 PA, 146 Swings, 89.0 Cont%
Adam Frazier - 82 PA, 146 Swings, 88.4 Cont%
Isiah Kiner-Falefa - 74 PA, 126 Swings, 88.1 Cont%
D.J. LeMahieu - 66 PA, 109 Swings, 88.1 Cont%
Wander Franco - 64 PA, 132 Swings, 87.1 Cont%
Magic Formula Qualifiers - Hitters - Last 3 Weeks
Christian Walker - 78 PA, 16.7 K%, 14.3 Brl%
Joc Pederson - 59 PA, 15.3 K%, 22.5 Brl%
Nelson Cruz - 71 PA, 18.3 K%, 16.0 Brl%
Paul Goldschmidt - 83 PA, 19.3 K%, 14.8 Brl%
Pete Alonso - 85 PA, 18.8 K%, 18.0 Brl%
Yordan Alvarez - 79 PA, 16.5 K%, 15.3 Brl%
Hot Hitter Tracker - Last 7 vs. Career
Dansby Swanson - +14.9% Contact%, +3.2 mph exit velo, -2.7 Chase%
Trevor Larnach - +5.7% Contact%, +4.6 mph exit velo, -6.0 Chase%
Ramon Laureano - +7.7% Contact%, +9.7 mph exit velo, -11.6 Chase%
Hunter Dozier - +9.0% Contact%, +2.0 mph exit velo, -4.6 Chase%
Jose Ramirez - +11.0% Contact%, +3.3 mph exit velo, -13.9 Chase%
Yordan Alvarez - +3.3% Contact%, +3.3 mph exit velo, -4.0 Chase%
J.T. Realmuto - +6.9% Contact%, +2.2 mph exit velo, -15.3 Chase%
Shohei Ohtani - +6.0% Contact%, +7.3 mph exit velo, -5.8 Chase%
Harold Castro - +9.4% Contact%, +9.6 mph exit velo, -2.9 Chase%
Bobby Dalbec - +12.8% Contact%, +10.2 mph exit velo, -8.5 Chase%
Alcides Escobar - +12.5% Contact%, +4.7 mph exit velo, -2.2 Chase%
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